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Japan's seasonally adjusted unemployment rate was unchanged at 2.8 per cent in October, the fifth consecutive month of unemployment rates at this level. Japan has not sustained this low an unemployment rate since the mid 1990s (it was lower in the early 1990s). In October, both Japan's labour force and employment declined by 0.1 per cent - a second consecutive month of decline for each. After falling for many years, Japan's labour force and employment began to grow again starting in 2012 and have generally been trending up since then.

Canada and Nova Scotia typically report higher rates of unemployment than Japan, but all exhibit a strong long run relationship between the size of the labour force and employment, with unemployment fluctuating more in short run data.